United States Marshals Research Articles

Grand Unified (Separation of Powers) Theory: Examining the United States Marshals

This Article examines a novel separation of powers issue that the Supreme Court has never directly addressed: the existence and practices of the United States Marshals. The United States Marshals serve an executive branch function—law enforcement—yet are often directly overseen and commanded by the judicial branch. In the United States federal government system—in which the executive and judicial branches are designed to act independently—the control the federal courts exercise over the marshals raises separation of powers concerns. Since no court has decided what test should apply when federal courts vicariously exercise executive power, this Article applies several separation of powers tests to the organizational command structure of the marshals. These tests derive from unitary executive theory, the nondelegation doctrine, and the non-Article III adjudication doctrine. Each of these doctrinal areas involve circumstances where one branch exercises the power of another. By applying the various Court-created tests, this Article reveals the common features and parallel results of the various tests and discusses the broader implications of those similarities. Despite the different names the Court uses, each test fundamentally comes down to balancing convenience of governance against the danger of aggrandizing one of the three branches. It behooves the Court to consolidate the numerous tests and create a unified separation of powers doctrine.

A content analysis of pedophile manuals

Abstract Of great concern is the existence of instructional manuals circulating online that provide pedophiles with guidance on how to sexually abuse children. To better understand the role this material may play in the exploitation of children, the United States Marshals Services Behavioral Analysis Unit conducted a qualitative analysis on the content of all known pedophile manuals. From the cumulative content of these manuals we derived a model of victim selection and identified specific strategies used by this population to harm children. The manuals reveal that although external situational factors are given consideration during victim selection, the internal vulnerabilities of the victim are emphasized for active exploitation. The graphic content found within the documents and the ability to obtain them anonymously exacerbate the danger these manuals pose by reinforcing cognitive distortions, fostering networking opportunities, and normalizing the sexual abuse of children. The “education” provided in the manuals may bolster pedophilic identification as well as increase criminal efficacy. In the current paper we present important insights we obtained about the mentality and methodologies of pedophiles and other individuals interested in sexually exploiting children.

A glimpse of threat assessment and management activity performed by the United States Marshals Service.

A glimpse of threat assessment and management activity performed by the United States Marshals Service.

ICC Marshals? A Template for Legitimizing and Strengthening the Court

This paper advocates for the creation of a law enforcement agency similar to the United States Marshals Service (U.S. Marshals) under the direction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Court is struggling with persistent legitimacy questions from detractors because of the ICC's inability to capture indicted international criminals and from Africans claiming institutional bias against African member states. These problems result from exclusive reliance on the willingness of member states to act upon the ICC's arrest warrants and latent anxiety of international actors invading state sovereignty. In order to secure the ICC's viability in the future and its legitimacy in the eyes of stakeholders it must be given the power to arrest using the U.S. Marshals model. The United Nations Security Council (Sec. Council) may implement this model, with ample precedent.

A Case Study of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force

Although the implementation of multijurisdictional task forces has increased during the past two decades, relatively little empirical attention has been paid to these organizations within the scholarly literature. In general, task forces allow local law enforcement agencies access to increased resources. Also, task forces allow agencies to circumvent jurisdictional issues that may arise. In observing this phenomenon, the present study focuses on the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF), specifically its operations in Youngstown, Ohio. The study is conducted along two general paths. Descriptive data on the volume and type of cases handled by the NOVFTF were gathered from the United States Marshals Service, and interviews were conducted with officers and administrators involved with the NOVFTF. These interviews gathered information about the respondents' views on the task force's effectiveness, interagency cooperation, training, and media response. As a descriptive case study, the article offers policy implications stemming from the NOVFTF and avenues for further research.

Pedestrian Survey and NRHP Eligibility Testing of Sites within a Proposed Detention Facility in Webb County, Texas

The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio was contracted by MACTEC Engineering & Consulting, Inc. (hereafter, MACTEC) to perform Phase I archaeological survey and Phase II testing prior to the construction of a detention facility in Webb County, Texas. Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires federal agencies to take into consideration the effects of proposed undertakings on cultural resources within the Area of Potential Effect (APE). While the proposed undertaking is being developed by The GEO Group, Inc. on privately owned property and is funded by private resources, the anticipated use of the facility by the United States Marshals Service makes this project a federal undertaking as defined under 36 CFR part 800.16(y). As such, the project must comply with Section 106 of the NHPA. The Texas Historical Commission (THC) is the reviewing agency for the project.

The federal witness protection program: Its evolution and continuing growing pains

Introduction Sometimes the best way to catch a crook is with another crook. However, this approach can have deadly consequences. Because of them, the Federal Witness Security Program emerged. Program, commonly called the Witness Protection Program (WPP), was established in 1970 with the expectation that approximately 30 to 50 people a year would require its services; however, it has burgeoned beyond initial expectations.(1) Since its inception, more than 6,700 witnesses have entered the program.(2) And at the present time, approximately 20 to 25 witnesses a month are added.(3) This number does not include dependents. One witness, for example, brought 16 family members into the program at government expense.(4) average is roughly 2.5 family members per witness.(5) Including family members, approximately 16,000 individuals have now received the WPP's services.(6) cost of operating the WPP is substantial: The total cost of bringing one witness (and immediate family) into the program is approximately $150,000 and [the] operating budget for the `program [in fiscal year 1996 was] $46.3 million.(7) operating budget for the WPP in fiscal year 1997 is $61.8 million (with $41.6 million earmarked for witness expenses and $20.2 million to cover the salaries and expenses of Marshals Service employees operating the program).(8) Dempsey has framed the rationale for such expenditures in the following terms: U.S. Attorneys throughout the nation ... state that [the program] is the most valuable tool that they have in fighting organized crime and major criminal activity.(9) Over 100 mobsters are purported to be participants in the WPP.(10) For example, the testimony of alleged protected witness Salvatore Gravano,(11) who was reportedly involved in nineteen murders and actually acknowledged pulling the trigger in one hit proved instrumental in sending mob boss John Gotti to prison for life.(12) In addition, terrorists, drug traffickers, members of motorcycle and prison gangs, and other major criminals have been adversely affected by the testimony of protected witnesses.(13) As the needs of law enforcement have changed, so too has the focus of the WPP shifted. According to Howard Safir, Associate Director of Operations of the United States Marshals Service, over 80 percent of WPP cases involve drug prosecutions, compared to roughly 33 percent of cases in 1983. As a result, a major problem has arisen from the need to assimilate into the WPP foreign nationals who are involved as witnesses in drug cases.(14) In all the cases involving protected witness testimony since the program's inception, the government has reportedly realized a conviction rate of 89 percent.(15) Behind this impressive statistic lies the fact that familiarity on the part of witnesses often goes beyond casual observations and includes criminal involvement in the criminal enterprise: 97+ percent of witnesses entering the program have had criminal records and been deeply involved in some type of criminal activity.(16) Defense attorneys who have assisted in placement of clients in the program have maintained that the more heavily one is immersed in a criminal enterprise the easier it is to enter the program since the information to be exchanged is of greater value.(17) Even so, according to the United States Marshals Service [t]he recidivism rate for witnesses with prior criminal histories who entered the program and were later arrested and charged with crimes is less than 23 percent. This rate of recidivism among program participants is less than half the rate of those released from the nation's prisons.(18) Though prosecutors are considered officers of the court, the office of prosecutor actually falls within the executive branch of government; as such, prosecutors enjoy almost unbridled discretion.(19) It is not uncommon for prosecutors to cut deals with informants and cooperating witnesses. This vast discretion of the executive branch of government is evident when one examines the operations of the WPP. …

Review: The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989, by Frederick S. Calhoun

Book Review| May 01 1992 Review: The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989, by Frederick S. Calhoun The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989Frederick S. Calhoun Eric H. Monkkonen Eric H. Monkkonen Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Pacific Historical Review (1992) 61 (2): 283–284. https://doi.org/10.2307/3640142 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Eric H. Monkkonen; Review: The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989, by Frederick S. Calhoun. Pacific Historical Review 1 May 1992; 61 (2): 283–284. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3640142 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentPacific Historical Review Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1992 The Pacific Coast Branch, American Historical Association Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Review: The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies: 1789-1989, by Frederick S. Calhoun

Review: <i>The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies: 1789-1989</i>, by Frederick S. Calhoun

The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989

Journal Article The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789–1989 Get access The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789–1989. By Calhoun Frederick S.. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989. xii + 370 pp. Illustrations, notes, index. $24.95.) Richard Maxwell Brown Richard Maxwell Brown University of Oregon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Western Historical Quarterly, Volume 23, Issue 1, February 1992, Pages 103–104, https://doi.org/10.2307/970275 Published: 01 February 1992

The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1798-1989.

The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1798-1989.

The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989.

The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989.

The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989.

The Lawmen: United States Marshals and Their Deputies, 1789-1989.

The lawmen: United States marshals and their deputies, 1789-1989

The lawmen: United States marshals and their deputies, 1789-1989

The United States Marshals Service Role in the Attorney General's War on Violent Crime

The United States Marshals Service Role in the Attorney General's War on Violent Crime

Review: The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912, by Larry D. Ball and Gunpowder Justice: A Reassessment of the Texas Rangers, by Julian Samora, Joe Bernal, and Albert Pena

Review: <i>The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912</i>, by Larry D. Ball and <i>Gunpowder Justice: A Reassessment of the Texas Rangers</i>, by Julian Samora, Joe Bernal, and Albert Pena

The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912

The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912

The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912

The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912

The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912

The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912

Larry D. Ball. &lt;italic&gt;The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846–1912&lt;/italic&gt;. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1978. Pp. x, 315. $12.50

Larry D. Ball. &lt;italic&gt;The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846–1912&lt;/italic&gt;. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1978. Pp. x, 315. $12.50